In Job Searching on Craigslist an ad for some type of interesting job related to art appears where you can work part time from home and get a base salary plus commission simply using your computer and the internet. It is followed up by a long email that starts out as shown below:
EMAIL RECEIVED IN RESPONSE TO JOB AD
A large international company, Limitless Art Ltd is expanding and seeking new employees!
We are now looking for independent agents to represent our company in various regions. A few hours a day carrying out your duties online will be enough to fulfill the requirements of this post.
Our business is an art forwarding organization founded and located in United States. Limitless Art Ltd develops with communication services for art experts to the artists and owners.
We are happy to offer you the Financial Forwarding Coordinator position.
Here are some of the job requirements you need:
- you must be 18 years of age or older;
- internet access, to promptly reply to emails;
- availability by phone (1-2 hours a day);
We welcome a competent and reliable approach to work, responsibility and initiative in search of the most efficient ways of job implementation.
In the beginning, you will be hired on a probationary basis, for a month. We also call it training time, because during this period you will be guided step by step by your supervisor. If your performance is satisfactory, you will have a choice: either you can be employed part-time, or you can work full time and earn more.
Your salary during the trial is $2,300 per month, plus 8% commission from each transaction done. Total income, with the current volume of clients, could easily amount to $4,500 per month. After the training period, your base salary will increase up to $3,000 per month, plus the 8% commission.
THE SCAM
The first clue that there is a concern is the offer for the job immediately before they have talked to you, asked you any questions or you have had a chance to ask them any questions. The person writing the email was using a gmail address and did not provide any company web address, phone numbers, or company address in their initial contact, nor did they reference the Craigslist ad listing. Upon inquiry about the company a reply email was sent by the same named person, but this time, which happens automatically, unless you intentionally delete it. I requested more info on the company and then goat a domain based email, but not matching the company name exactly, and with a phone and fax numbers listed which do not show up on a reverse search, and a link to two web sites for more information, and a different email to do further inquiry.
Upon going to the web site, it lists a US address (street number only) in NY which upon research is the same as that of the NY Stock Exchange. Google searches of the company name provided turned up nothing.
The process is that you give them info on YOUR bank account, and they specifically do not want new bank accounts, stating that it causes holds on deposits. They then will make deposits into YOUR account and then you make withdrawals and send CASH payments by Western Union to someone they designate.
The first problem is that you are getting into the middle of a financial process that no legitimate company would hire out to strangers using private bank accounts. Receiving payments and paying vendors is one of the primary processes of every business. Secondly, you are giving them access to an account in YOUR name and any activity that transpires with that account, legal or otherwise, is YOUR responsiblity and your liablity. Thirdly, the amounts they deposit are all conveniently under the amounts that flag suspicious activitiy. Fourth, they stress the rapid turnaround required where you have to send the moneyout quickly, not giving time to see if their deposit is legit and properly posts or not. Once you withdraw money as cash from your account and send it by Western Union, if their deposit fails to clear, you just gave away YOUR money, not theirs, and you got royally ripped off!
In digging deeper, I fiind that there are dozens of company names and people who send out these emails, but the deal is always the same. They are looking to involve YOU in some illegal activity for their benefit. Most likely, you will get burned on the first transaction and they know that, so the "base salary" they promise is not paid till the end of the first month, and your commissions are tied to the transactions you allow to pass through your account, which motivates you to get involved with as many transactions as quickly as possible so yo ucan make money fast. They tell you to keep your commission from the deposit they make before you send the money out. Since the deposit is likely bogus anyway, (think about it, what scammer is going to trust depositing money in some strangers account?) then you won't get any money out of this deal, and by the time you figure out what is going on, you will have sent out thousands in Western Union wires that you bank will then come back to you to make good on.
Once again, DO NOT let your need, your hope, or your fantasy that you can beat the system and make a lot of money quickly, blind you from the obvious flags that have to be going off in your head. If it sounds too good to be true... You know the rest.
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